The optical thermodetector of the instant invention relates generally to devices for in vivo testing of tissue. The instant invention provides for an optical recording of temperature and tissue color at the point of testing. One application for the device is to give indication if a tissue is malignant, because malignant tissues frequently exhibit a different basal temperature than surrounding normal tissue in warm blooded animals, including man and frequently have coloration differences from normal tissue. This means of in vivo sampling could prevent the need for a painful biopsy in many situations where the information from the instant optical thermodetector will suffice for diagnosis.
The instant thermodetector may also be used to aid women in birth control. It is well known that unwanted pregnancies can be avoided through abstention from intercourse during ovulation and for a period immediately thereafter. This is, of course, dependent upon knowing the time of ovulation. This is often accomplished by temperature charting, which is a method consistent with sympto-thermal methods of family planning now in wide use today. This temperature determination allows a woman to know when she reaches the critical day in fertility, ovulation, which is indicated by a 0.4.degree. F. rise in her basal temperature. The rise in temperature occurs when a woman's progesterone production is stimulated by hormones released from the corpus luteum following the release of the egg cell from the ovary. The normal lower basal temperature occurs when estrogen, not progesterone, is a dominating hormone.